Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 Spoiler Alert! Part One.

2003 Mustang Mach One.
This low mileage example is rare in that it is equipped with an automatic.
Currently offrred for sale at 15,999 dollars.

Since I still had the car up on ramps after I had replaced the oil filter adaptor gasket, I thought that it might be a good time to install the Mach One style front spoiler that I bought years ago, and had been taking up space in the garage. I've always thought that the SN95 Mustang was a little weak looking in the front. All of the available replacement "body kits" and bumpers are too over the top for me.  I well remember when the 2003 Mach One was released, It was a nice update of the last "New Edge" style Mustangs and delivered some real performance gains along with some nice heritage styling cues. 

The wheels, rear spoiler, side scoops, even the type face of the instruments and seat upholstery mimic the classic designs. The most intriguing and desirable item was the shaker hood. The New Edge update had replaced the soft curves of the previous design with a more aggressive hard lined and slab sided refinement. Still, there was only so much that could be done until the 2005 retro style Mustang was introduced.

My favorite Mustangs are the 1969 and 1970 Mach Ones. When the 2003 appeared I was not particularly impressed, because Mustangs from the this era had never been on my radar. However, I was impressed by the DOHC 24 valve motor, at 305 hp. it gave it ten more horse than my beloved NorthStar Cadillac. Over recent years I've warmed up to these cars even more, and I find the Mach One to be quite desirable. Not so desirable that I would actually buy one. They are commanding some pretty high prices, and I already have a '96. They don't really look that different, though the difference in performance is considerable. 

The factory added a small chin spoiler to the design which gave the front end a bit more character. The factory piece was replicated and quickly tooled up for aftermarket production. It was an easily installed addition to a regular Mustang. A bit later the same type spoiler was made available for the earlier SN95 models. I wanted to improve the appearance of my car so I ordered one from American Muscle. After it arrived I stuck the box in a corner of the garage and forgot about it. I had also found another item, a rear wing on CraigsList that I would add to my car, and that was also mothballed. 

Until now.

Upon opening up the box, I noticed the the left side of the spoiler was a bit warped. It is made out of a rather stiff plastic. The box had been sitting on that edge for several years. I imagine that it will straighten itself out after being installed. 

I was curious about the fasteners that were provided. Some suppliers include plastic push in fasteners, some use good old nuts and bolts, and in my case, metal screws. I watched a video from American Muscle that illustrated the installation process. My takeaway from that video was to clamp the ends in place first. I held it up in the middle with a couple of bungee cords. This made the job much easier for me, even though I did this without a helper. 

As you can see there is a very wide flat area available to attach the spoiler. I chose to leave the whimpy little original spoiler in place. It can't be seen once the new spoiler is in place. 

Because of the curvature of the bumper's leading edge, the spoiler needs to be located an inch or so back. That's the major difference from the New Edge model which have a flat bottomed front bumper.  Now I can see why there are different parts numbers, there are slight differences in the construction. 

You can see how the left side is not resting flush with the underside of the bumper. It was almost flat after I installed the screws. Once it sits for awhile and the weather heats up I'll add another screw to the area. 

The spoiler is a nice addition and adds a little more character to the front end. It doesn't project down too far. Since I don't plan on lowering the car I shouldn't have any problems with clearance. It's kind of funny that at one time, I thought that I'd be removing the running horse like I did with my '66. Over time I have become quite fond of the mascot and I have no intention on removing it. 

I'm glad that I finally got around to installing the front spoiler. It wasn't that difficult, but I just put it off and stuck it in an inaccessible spot in the garage. Of course then I just kind of forgot about it. Years passed, but lately I've been moving things around which allowed me to move it out into the open.

Next I'll move onto adding the rear wing. This is a much rarer and more exclusive item.